Put together a group of 100 high school students, and 95 will declare that they dream of going to college. In the end, it turns out that only 45 out of the 100 students end up in college or university. The most common reason for this is that those that couldn’t make it to college couldn’t because of funds. This article will change that narrative by providing several grants students are qualified for besides FAFSA. They’ll also get to learn other important unknown details about grants, without further ado, dive in already. Let us know about ‘Grants Besides Fafsa’.
Grants Besides Fafsa:
Grants for students besides FAFSA include University/college grants, state grants, and special grants. Special grants come either from non-governmental or private organizations. Students qualify for grants through merits or demonstrated fund needs.
Categories Of Grants:
Grants are free money given to qualified college/university aspirants who need help with funds. So they can make it to college or university.
Grants are unlike student loans, where there’s a responsibility of paying back while in school or after school. Any student given grants must know that it’s free money. So the only further requirement will be to perform well in school academics.
Students given grants all over the United States got them through two different means. They can get the grant through qualification. This means the grant is merit-based, i.e., the student gained the grant after attaining a certain level of academic progress.
Therefore, to qualify for a merit-based grant, the student needs to gain a certain type of high school academic performance. Another way students get grants is through demonstrating fund needs, known as need-based grants.
This means the students gain the grants after meeting certain need-based requirements. Here, the giver of the grants uses the fund needs of the students to determine if they qualify for a grant. So students with little funding needs may not qualify for a need-based grant.
Available Grants Besides FAFSA:
Below is the list of legit grants awarded to students besides FAFSA.
Institutional Grants:
This may sound unbelievable, however, most of the higher institutions in the United States have institution grants. Most students fail to find out if the school they’re aspiring to has institution grants.
What’s displayed to the public eye by the institution are scholarships and student loans. For most schools, students will need to carry out deep research if the school has institutional grants. Especially students from low-income families.
To get a chance, they need to do deep research on the school. They’ll not only need to find out if the school provides institutional grants. They’ll also need to research the number of grants they give students. It’s necessary to find out how much the school will give out because institution grants differ with different schools.
To begin the process, various schools ask students to fill out the FAFSA form. Every information which the student provides in the form is what the school uses to determine their qualification for the grant.
Above all, students must note that most times. It’s only a non-profit and private college/university that gives out institutional funds.
State Grants:
State Grants refer to grants made available for students with financial challenges as regards going to college or university. The state government made this grant available to every student that hails from that state only.
As expected, different states have different ways of issuing grants to students. Some states may require that interested students fill out the FAFSA alone. While others require that interested students fill out the FAFSA form and the state-specific state grant form.
In addition, different states have different ways for students to apply for grants. The number of grants issued to states differs from one state to the other as well.
Take, for instance, in 2018, when the US article states Georgia state university awarded its students a state grant of $2,370. Whereas, Montana awarded its student a state grant of $10.
The way state governments in the United States issue grants to students differs. Some states give out grants directly to qualified students.
While other states issue state grants to the schools of qualified students. Here, the concerned student will need to get theirs through the school.
Basic Requirements Needed For Qualifying For State Grants:
While being an indigene of a particular state is the number one and basic requirement for qualifying for a state grant. It isn’t the only requirement needed. Below are several things that qualify a student for state grants;
- A state resident.
- Getting graduated from a highly recommended and accredited high school.
- Enrolled at the particular state college or university for at least part-time.
- Being a student of a state university or college qualified for state grant purposes.
- Possessing a satisfying character.
- Absence of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
Special Grants:
These are grants made available by non-profits, businesses, and several organizations. They’re made available not only to young college students but also to the disabled, women, and dependents of veterans. As well as to members of a needy specific group, minorities, and people pursuing a certain worthy discipline.
Similar to other types of grants. Special grants differ from place to place and from one business and organization to the other. Also, the amount given and requirements differ.
Most of the time, special grants are awarded to interested people coming from low-income families. This means that most special grants are need-based rather than merit-based. Examples of special grants students have access to are as follows;
- John Bowman Travel.
- Okechi Womeodu Scholar-Athlete.
- Portfolio.
- Stella Blum Student Research.
- Adult Students in Scholastic Transition.
- American Floral.
- Archaeological Institute of America.
- Computing Education for the 21st Century.
- Frank Huntington Beebe Fund for Musicians.
- Gertrude M. Cox Grant for Women.
- GSA/ExxonMobil.
- Convergence.
Top 3 Grants Available For Undergraduates:
Below are the sure grants available for every undergraduate in the United States across different schools. The most important thing to note about undergraduate grants is that students need to fill out the FAFSA, i.e., the Free Application for Student Aid form.
Then have the EFC in possession i.e., the Expected Family Contribution form to qualify. The EFC is the number that various schools used to calculate how much they’ll give the interested student.
They need to fill out those two forms because that’s what schools used to determine how much they’ll give. Here goes the list of the top 3 types of grants available for undergraduates;
Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (FSEOG):
The schools under FSEOG are to get the funds from the organization. The organization is the United States of education’s office of federal student aid.
After collecting the funds from the FSEOG organization. The school distributes it to undergraduates with little or nothing to take care of their school funds.
This means that once the schools collect the funds from the organization, that’s all for the year. Students who couldn’t access the grant at the right time won’t get it once their participating school no longer shares it.
Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants:
The Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants are grants entitled to the children of military personnel. This is for children whose parents died in war after the 11th of September, 2001.
- Pell Grants
The requirements for qualifying for a federal Pell grant are the same as the ones for the federal financial processes. Meaning interested students need to collect and complete the FAFSA form.
This is a need-based grant. Here, the student’s overall school needs. As well as the financial needs of the student determine if the student will be qualified for the funds or not.
- Teach Grant
This type of grant comes in handy for students who enjoy teaching. In exchange for a grant, they get to teach in a high-need field for four years in a school. This ranges from educational service agencies to secondary schools or elementary schools.
To get a chance, the interested student needs to fill out the FAFSA form and the TEACH Grant counseling form every year. Throughout the whole four years, they’ll need to sign an agreement to serve form every year as well.
Conclusion:
This article has provided several grants available for every kind of student to take advantage of. This is to remove the common saying that some students couldn’t attend college/university because of insufficient funds.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Aside from grants, what are the alternatives to getting financial help?
Other alternatives to getting college funds Include crowdfunding, local & university scholarship, and getting employment on campus.
- What is the maximum amount of grant interested students can opt for?
Tuition fees differ with schools, therefore the maximum amount differs.
- Is there any grant available for graduates?
Yes, grants are available for graduates as well. They’re eligible for government grants and other business and organization grants.
- Does collecting grants have disadvantages?
Yes. There’s a lot of competition because many students apply and in the end, it’s the survival of the fittest. One of the ways to stand a chance is to present an excellent grant letter.
